Don't Offer a Coupon! Unless...

It can feel like the cartoon with the little devil on one shoulder and the little angel on the other shoulder...

Do I offer a discount on this information product to get more purchases, even though it will mean less money per purchase?  

Or do I stick with the price I think it's worth and hope for more buyers?  

Simplero makes it SUPER easy to offer a coupon on your website or via email, but should you?

Why Not to Offer Coupons

If you keep offering your fabulous product for 10% off, then why would someone purchase it at full price?  Coupons can undermine the long term value of your product.  

It's well known in the world of marketing that consumers can become acclimated to the existence of coupons and decide to wait until the next coupon comes out rather than purchase at full price.  I bet every one of us has looked at those full price nutrition bars in the grocery store and thought - "They were only $1 each last week, I'm not going to pay $1.25 for one right now.  I'll go get something else instead."

And it's even trickier in the world of information marketing, when the cost per product is intangible.  Information products carry value because of the impact they create in people's lives, rather than because of the amount they cost to make.  So offering a coupon or a sale can undercut your statement of that value and could potentially result in people thinking your offerings are worth less.  

Yet information marketers do it all the time!  There must be a reason.  And there is.

Two Great Ways to Use a Coupon

Coupons are an amazing way to get new people 'in the door'.  A recent visitor to your website might not be ready to pay you full price for your top of the line product, but a 10% discount on a lower end product might get you

1. their email address
2. their participation in one of your forums and potentially
3. their purchase of a more expensive product down the road.  

That sounds pretty worth it to me! 

Coupons can also be an effective way to re-engage some of your leads who haven't yet turned into customers.  Maybe they are just hanging out there on your email list, not unsubscribing but not purchasing anything either.  It is easy to target an email campaign (and a landing page) just for them.  You can offer them a coupon on one of your best sellers and see how many will buy if they feel like they are getting a deal.  We all LOVE to get a deal.  

This strategy can get you some solid information too.  Maybe your price for that product is too high for your customer base (if a whole lot of them buy at the discounted price). Or maybe your product isn't speaking to your customers' interests (if even the discounted version doesn't get many takers). Using coupons can get you data, as well as income! 

Simplero Makes This Easy

We are all about simple. To effectively offer the coupon strategies we describe here, you will need a website, a sign up form, an email list, coupon prices, expiring links, and a way to take payments. We've got all that, integrated seamlessly!  

If you are already a Simpleroista and want to get started, here's how you can create an evergreen coupon!  If not, go here to join other online business leaders in using Simplero to grow your business.

1. Set up a secret link for the product of your choice at a discount price! There is no right or wrong here.  Something between 10-25% is a great place to start!
2. Create a new list with a nurturing sequence of autoresponders. Share in 3-5 emails about your business and what your spotlight product can do for them. Use the secret link in your emails and highlight the great deal you are giving them.
3. Set the link to expire if you want to. Say you only want the sale price to be active until the last day of the nurture sequence, which is day 8… you can edit the link to expire at the time that corresponds with the last email. Make sure to set a re-direct URL to the normal order form price if they happen to click on it after the link has expired.
4. Create a fun and catchy embedded opt in.  Do you have a great shareable from the product you are highlighting? Share that as a content piece with new and current visitors.   Anything that will encourage them to see that your offering is something that would be very beneficial to them!
5. Add your opt in on a main page of your website, and even adding it any blog posts or pages that do exceptionally well with high visit rates.  

Congratulations! You now have an evergreen coupon running full time, making you money as visitors opt in and see your amazing offers!

Do you offer coupons in your online business?  What works best for you?